


Hero

by wanttoflyhigh



Category: Tales of Phantasia
Genre: Action, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Body Possession, Drama, Intrigue, Irony, Jealousy, M/M, Miscommunication, People acting like assholes to good people, Phantom hijinks, Politics, Present!Dhaos, which... should probably be a bit telling for the few bits of 'fun' interaction here
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-02
Updated: 2015-07-02
Packaged: 2018-04-07 06:59:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,944
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4253808
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wanttoflyhigh/pseuds/wanttoflyhigh
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When the group of heroes have finally settled down after their shocking adventure, they all find that there are things that could certainly be done better, but have no choice to face when the glamor has worn thin and sometimes the ugly truth can prevent a more simpler as well as kinder one from being seen. With that said, how will they act when things seem to turn most dire?</p><p>Also tried to get the spacing done but w/e.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Hero

**Author's Note:**

> Kinda was a bit based upon the Drama CD Hero of Toltus, and it made me realize that it'd be fun to show people being awful even though it was obvious the group were worshiped as heroes people like to push things too far. Also was meant to be a hell of a lot shorter, but, as usual got carried away. 
> 
> Also tried to do a new thing so hopefully that worked out.

“One must be careful not to be consumed by the conflict they fight, lest they become the conflict.”

 

          A hero was what they called him, celebrating the times that had been filled with tales of renewed peacefulness and harmony by those who sung of the victory the Heroes of Space Time had achieved following the defeat of The Demon King by their hands. The rebuilding of the town Toltus that had been completely devastated by one of the followers had been complete, and many people had moved in to repopulate the place. Especially once hearing that some of the famed heroes lived there, and things were generally going alright. Which, at this point, was enough for the heroes, or they liked to think that it was enough.

 

          The truth is, that sometimes, a few always wound up demanding more.

 

          As the sun began to eclipse into the horizon, a certain blond-haired male had just returned from his visit to Euclid Castle. He hadn’t rode upon a horse for old times’ sake and there had been another reason-- today was in fact a so-called holiday Aselia had celebrated ‘the day the world was saved’ or something to that effect. Said blond, named Cless Alvein, thought that maybe he should’ve remembered the proper name a little, but all in all, every year he swore it made him grow more blithe because of the kinds of people it attracted to his tiny hometown.

 

         The dirt roads and grassy expansion of land that was dotted with a few houses here or there were mostly absent of people, since at this time they were mostly in the dojo or crowded elsewhere. His friends might be busy with the crowds of people who wanted him to show off his skills, again. Don’t they all have something better to do with their lives?

 

          He sighed at the thought and decided he could try to avoid all of those people for a longer time, maybe up until they even departed. That’d be great.

 

          Then he began to walk around town, first starting with Chester’s home and the orphanage. He wondered what would their parents all say, if they had been alive to discover how much they’ve already done for the town. Probably say something along the lines of having been proud of them, and sure the thought was comforting, but at the moment it wasn’t really enough. Maybe, it was a bit selfish, considering that they had done all that they could’ve done given the hand they were dealt, but...

 

          He stops in his thoughts at the sound of a window being broken nearby the opposite side of the orphanage and his eyes narrow as his hand goes straight to the hilt of his blade. He finishes his quick dash to the other side, whilst simultaneously drawing the blade clean and fast from the sheath, frowning when he noticed that there were a few men standing right nearby the window. They were rather sharply dressed, indicative of a noble kind of background--he is beginning to not like those type of people. His eyes narrow as he asks, “What are you doing?”

 

          One of them, a blond, asked, “What do you think? I’m giving the poor house a better look!”

 

          The others laughed, until Cless interrupted, annoyed, “It’s not a poor house. How about you guys just leave? Or else I’ll have to make you. I can tell you’re not children anymore, so you should act your age.”

 

          One of them whispered to the blond, who listened and then asked, “Wait... you’re the legendary hero? Cless Alvein?”

 

    A brunette amongst them laughed and said, “Some hero you are, waving a sword at a couple of innocent, unarmed people. You know that after all is said and done since the world is saved, people like you aren’t needed around anymore. Leave the rest to the real heroes now.”

 

    Cless stepped forward, stopping the small onslaught of laughter from that segue, and they watched him carefully, wondering what he was about to do next. He just kept walking towards them, at first with a calm expression until he smiled except not with his eyes. “Did you know I’m the best swordsman in all of Aselia? Sometimes I practice with dummies and easily hack them up and now I’m wondering which of you would make a nice replacement!”

 

    Then they hurriedly apologized, scrambling to run out of there in their haste. Cless sighed, and sheathed his blade, not liking to have to do that but it seemed he had no other choice. Or...did he? He laughed a bit to himself, thinking it was kinda funny seeing their piss-the-pants expression there. Although, now that he turned to the window, he wondered if he could get the window fixed in time before Chester and the children got back.

 

    He bent down and began to pick up the pieces of glass carefully.

 

    ...

 

    Cless managed to make it back to meet Mint and Chester with the other people who still lingered around the dojo. As soon as he did the two hurried over to him, Chester slapping his back lightly and grinning, as he said, “Didn’t think you’d be back so soon, Cless.”

 

    The blond male smiled, always happy to see his friends, and replied, “I was considering going on another adventure but I figured it wouldn’t be the same without you guys.”

 

    The blond female also showed a small smile of her own, saying, “That’s good. I think from the commotion earlier we would’ve loved to go on one with you.”

 

    Chester rolled his eyes and says, “Tell me about it. This one shithead thought it’d be funny to rile up the crowd with some bullshit about it being a rowdy party. Does this place look like a party house to you?”

    Cless pointed to the mess people made and said, “Now it kinda does. Maybe we should just have someone paint PARTY on the front of the dojo next time.”

 

    Mint blinked and then offered, “Or... perhaps we could have the celebration stay completely out of the dojo without them expecting any of us to show off our abilities at their whims?”

 

    The blond-haired male nodded. “Sounds good to me. It’s getting old so fast already. Besides, it’s hard enough with us nearly getting mobbed whenever we go to to the cities now.”

 

    The blue-haired archer shuddered and replied, “Yeah, do you remember those people who kept stalking us when we went to Euclid? Talk about a pain in the ass.”

 

    Cless nodded and said, “Speaking of a pain in the ass, I had some trouble with some assholes today nearby the orphanage...”

 

    ...

 

    As they said their goodbyes for the night, Cless opened his door and heard the soft voice of Mint call out to him, “Um, excuse me Cless... I was wondering if things were okay with you? You didn’t tell us how your trip went.”

 

    Cless gripped one of his hands into a tight fist but turned to smile at her, replying, “It went alright, surprisingly. Although, I was thinking about something...I’ve been having these dreams about...”

 

     The blond paused, seeming to think better of it, and finished with,”I hope you have a good night...Mint.”

 

    She blinked, feeling the man hug her tight in the next flurry of the moment, as if she would disappear, and she was almost unable to discern the moment he finally let go as it felt too short--

 

    The blond-haired woman watched as he closed the door, but she felt herself rooted to the spot, as a few whirlwind of her own emotions coursed through her when she could tell that it was indeed a ‘smile’ she was given, but it was empty of any feeling. She wished that everything could be at least the way it had been a few months ago, but even then... Mint wondered if it had already changed before that time.

 

    People’s mouths were becoming more loose, more content, and certainly conceited as a result. She wasn’t one to criticise or judge, but even she could tell that people were getting used to there being no sleeping or ready danger of someone leading something to try to destroy the entirety of a human race, even if it were all based on misunderstandings. She found herself growing a bit discontent with the thought of people not holding themselves accountable for their actions.

 

    Especially if it wound up with her friends hurt.

 

    Three months ago, the three of them had decided to eat together because it had been so long since they had and figured it couldn’t hurt. Around this time, they had begun to discuss their plans, and Cless had announced, “Well, I’m planning on continuing helping out as a knight-- it’s the least I can do and it’ll keep me in shape as well as saving people as a bonus. They’re in the middle of building a place called Valhalla, so they need more people out on the watch for monsters and being protected. So, I’m pretty excited about that!”

 

    Chester snorted and replied, “I think I’ll be sticking around here at the orphanage. I mean I’m the one who came up with the idea so nothing new beyond some practicing or what not. I just hope when you leave you better not do it without telling either of us, otherwise I’m not going to tell you if Arche actually finally showed up or not.”

 

    Mint then said with a smile, “I’m planning on probably doing a pilgrimage to help people around the world and then helping you out as well, Cless, if you don’t mind...”

 

    She remembered seeing the look on Cless’ face, contorted into a strange unreadable expression as he seemed to think over it. He then gave her a smile that had seemed odd at the time but she hadn’t thought upon it much, “That sounds great! Although where I am is pretty dangerous and we already have enough healers, so I think it’d be better if you took your time on your own thing?”

 

    He had paused and his eyes seemed to become a bit hard. “Besides,” he continued, “I doubt you’d want to deal with anyone there. Anyway, I think I’m full and done for the night, so... have a good night guys.”

 

    Mint scrambled to try to say something but ended up just frowning as Chester stood up and asked, “Are you sure, Cless?”

 

    Cless said frankly and in a short tone that indicated the end of the matter, “I’m sure.”

 

    She had watched him leave and looked over at Chester, who looked back at her. Then she looked at where the blond male had sat as well as the fact that he had barely touched his food. Mint said, “... I think it is a little strange how, even now, we still seem to be a bit on edge.”

 

    The blue-haired archer replied, “Well, it can’t last forever. Besides, I don’t think it’ll be a big deal. We’ll have all forgotten about how rude people here or there have been since no one will care in about a month or so.”

 

    Mint had finished changing, and at those thoughts, hoped that those cracks on the surface would fade away. And if not, then she’d try to make do and help as best as she could... it was all either of them could do at this point.

 

    ...

 

    Cless sighed loudly to himself as he just left the room, following listening in on another political debate. Arguing with nobility made for such a pain at times he wondered why it was that they wanted him there when he could be doing something a little better...like making sure Valhalla’s construction was going smoothly and hence as to why he was heading over to there right now. As soon as he stepped outside, however, he bumped into a cloaked individual and stumbled back, and he uttered a quick apology.

 

          He saw that in his action the other’s hood had fallen, revealing a certain green-haired male, now certainly older and scoffing at Cless. “Watch where you’re going next time, boy.”

 

          Cless frowned but before he could say anything the half-elf was gone, and he stepped out into the outskirts of Euclid. He found himself sooner or later speaking with another knight from Euclid who was talking about the workers in Valhalla being beneath him. He remembered saying to the man, “It’s not as if you can do it yourself, so really, isn’t saying such things about those people kind of awful?”

 

          The man frowned and said, “For a hero, you sure still act like a child, is that why you go off running your mouth? Hiding your special technique from everyone even though it’s so simple for you to do? What was it called again? Meikuu Zanshoken?  I bet your fa...”

 

_"...Meikuu Zanshoken.”_

_A younger blond looked up at his father as he uttered those words, and he blinked, asking, “Will I be able to do something like that too, dad?”_

_He felt a hand on his head gently patting him as he was assured that yes, he was, and then later on it shifted to when Cless was holding the pendant, given to him on his fifteenth birthday. It segued instantly into the town of Tolus, a wreck, his mother and father dead for sure. Then, him and Chester nearby Ami’s dead body, the hands of which held a doll in Cless’ image.  When he looked at her, he could almost see her, waiting for her knight in shining armor that wouldn’t come, crying and curling up in pain after she was stabbed._

_Ami cried, as Chester stood by his side, seemingly listless, “Why...why...why couldn’t you two have come quicker? Why weren’t you be a better swordsman?”_

          Cless couldn’t find the words, and soon, he found himself standing in the room where the final battle happened, looking his enemy in the eyes. He was smiling cruelly at him, and it was all so wrong, as Dhaos spoke to him, beckoning him to come at him. So he did, he came at him, and he watched the man fall at his blade once he was done.

 

          Cless blinked blearily trying to hold back tears, as his mind came back to reality, and then he raised his hand to punch the other knight in the nose, who happened to not have been wearing a helmet. He frowned slightly as he heard the sound of a crack and the man on the ground holding his nose, making pitiful noises. He receives an errant thought that it’d have been nice if he would be permanently silenced, which, if he thought about it, he could certainly do so. He could use an excuse and everyone would believe in him, since he was a hero.

 

 _Oh god_ , he thought, _what am I thinking?_

 

          He turned his back on him and continued to survey the rest of what would be Valhalla City, saying, “You should be more prepared. There’s a reason why we’re here and it’s not to bicker. It’s to protect people.”

 

          Then, sometime later, a few knights go missing on a rainy night, when they meet up with Cless.

 

          ...

 

          The next time Chester saw Cless, it was just shy of two months, and really, considering everything he was glad that it hadn’t taken him too long to return. Although the weather could’ve stood to be better, what with it pouring like nobody’s business. This time, the other blond had arrived, on top of a horse, and seemed still, like a ghost. When he came near him, calling out his name, he could almost feel his heart jump out of his chest as he watched the blond fall off of the horse and hit the wet grass. Quickly, he went over to his side and began to sling an arm over his shoulder.

 

          Once he got the blond inside his home, he made sure to slowly start to take off the wet armor, noticing a bit of blood but it didn’t seem to be the blond’s own. He then gulped a bit, and helped Cless out of the rest of his wet wear, finding that the blond seemed to be conscious enough that he shifted here or there to help as well as let Chester know he was still alive. Once he got the blond into the bed, he stopped responding to anything altogether, seeming to just instantly drop into a dead sleep.

 

          The blue-haired male sighed and sat down, at least comforting himself with the thought that he hadn’t managed to injure himself. But it was clear to him he was tired and it was probably more or less the fact that he may have overworked himself. Or...

 

          Or...

 

          Another thought comes to him. Maybe he could’ve been forced to, or Cless simply couldn’t decline someone asking him to stay longer, or--

 

          Or maybe he should just leave it for now.

 

          But, for the moment, the blue-haired male knew he’d inform Mint later and stick around for a few hours to make sure that his best friend was alright. When he wound up getting up to go to the bathroom, he didn’t expect to see the smaller blond up, somehow having gotten himself into pajamas. He asked, “Going to the loo as well?”

 

          Cless looked down and shook his head, before stepping forward. He asked, “Chester... what do you think of me? Do you think I’m t--”

 

          Chester interrupted, stepping forward to put his hands on Cless’ shoulders, with a slight smile, “--the best friend any guy could ask for?”

 

The blond’s facial features scrunched up a bit as he said, “No, that’s not what I meant.”

 

          Chester frowned and thought about something for a moment, before moving his hands from Cless’ shoulders to around his waist and pulling the surprised blond against him. “Don’t care. If you’re thinking less of yourself and happen to be wondering if I’m thinking the same, then you’re wrong.”

 

          He certainly missed Cless’ face coloring a bit, and the blond just simply said, “Yeah, you’re right. It’s just been a long week, you know? I missed all...especially both you and Mint.”

   

    Then the blond pulled away and continued, “I only got up since I was a little cold. So...”

 

    Chester let go of him and passed him a grin, replying, “Well if you want I could warm you up a little.”

 

    The smaller blond blushed once more, although he tried to look casual. “Yeah right, you’d never stop talking if you joined me. I’m going back to bed.”

 

    ...

 

    Cless saw himself standing in a field of grass, with only one large tree in front of him, and he blinked, looking around, knowing it was some type of dream going on. When he finished and his eyes had sat upon what else was now in front of him, there was a familiar figure standing right in his view, with that long blond hair as well as piercing blue irises. He was sure that this wasn’t real, the thought repeating in his head as he even closed the small distance between them. So because it wasn’t real, his hands raised to touch the dream blond’s face, as he stood on the tips of his toes.

 

    The smaller blond noticed the slight flinch, but the dream’s apparition said nothing, staring down at him, but his eyes seemed to be filled with curiosity, as well as a hint of something else underneath it all... sadness, maybe. So he just decided to let go, noticing the dream didn’t end with that, and thinking to himself maybe he was just overthinking things.

 

    Cless smiled slightly, and reached out to take a mostly covered hand, saying, “I wish... things had been a little different. It’s probably selfish that I can’t get over it or at least be able to indulge in the peace more. Everyone did try their best, but...”

 

    The blond paused, still looking at the dream image of the angel, and just sighed. He muttered, “I can’t stand it. Including the way people are acting, it really does make me wish somehow our names had not been found out as the ‘heroes who saved the world’ or whatever. I kinda also... wish this wasn’t a dream.”

 

    The dream apparition stared at him in silence, and Cless didn’t expect anything, but at least here, he could see him one more time. It occurs to him that he could finally apologize, but as he’s opening his mouth, words spill from the taller figure, “All dreams are rooted in the basis of reality, and thereby while not tangible as you are in the waking world, they are not just figments of your imagination. Many beings can pass through your dreams and your deepest desires can lay bare for you to do as you wish with them.”

 

    Cless began to blush and sputter. “W-what the hell?! I...what do you know anyway?!”

 

    The taller one seemed to take in Cless’ expression, eyebrows raising and a smirk appearing upon his lips briefly much to the smaller blond’s annoyance, and then he said, expression becoming more severe, “... That aside, your development is concerning.”

 

    At this, the swordsman looked confused and asked, “What do you mean?”

 

    For a moment he saw all become dark and himself swallowed in darkness, when he heard the words, “Distancing yourself from your friends to hide your pain and suffering after dealing with people who would wish the worst due to what you hope to accomplish, for their personal satisfaction and gain. It seems so similar. That, and...you...regret...a...possess...”

 

    His voice disappeared into the darkness, and he looked around, asking for his name, but only to find that it brought forth nothing. He began to back up, until he felt himself collide into something from behind, causing him to turn around to see that it was Dhaos again. The smaller blond waited for him to continue, to say anything, only to be disappointed that the man seemed to be listless. Cless’ hands went to grip the front of the cloak, and asked, “What’s going on here? Why aren’t you saying anything anymore?!”

 

    Dhaos then leaned forward, smiling, making Cless let go, as he said, “You have nothing to worry about, any longer, my human. I will help you. Your friends will not even know and therefore you will not trouble them either, as you wished.”

 

    Cless blinks softly, blushing a bit at the close proximity, looking to the side as a result as well. “...really?”

 

    “Yes... meet with me in the mausoleum.”

 

    The smaller blond looked back about to raise a question, but the words don’t easily come once he notices something. He could also see Dhaos’ eyes that were an eerie shimmering red instead of blue looking into his eyes... filled with an indiscernible emotion that he found himself losing himself in.

 

    ...

 

    Mint had heard the news from Chester, so she had thought to come over to watch over Cless while the blue-haired male had been busy with the children over at the orphanage. Although, she and him were steadily becoming ever the more worried the more time it seemed to be taking for him to awaken, which had now reached in a total of three days. Still, there hadn’t been no wounds, so it must have simply been exhaustion, since he hadn’t emerged from his room as of yet. She sighed to herself as she headed down to the front of the house, hearing a knock.

 

    What the blond-haired cleric didn’t expect to find was a group of soldiers who raised their brows and then one of them asked, “Are you Mrs. Alvein? We need to speak with your husband about something.”

 

    The blond woman blushed furiously and quickly attempted to gather herself. “Ah... no, I’m just a friend of his and he’s out of commission. He hasn’t emerged from his room in a few days, so I think he’s exhausted...”

 

    The soldiers look at each other and shrugged.

 

    One of them said, stepping in, brushing her rudely to the side, “Then we can wait for him to get up, ‘friend of the great hero Cless’.”

 

    The rest began to come in and she hurriedly moved nearby them to say, “But, I’m not sure when he’s going to be up, so you should stay at the local inn. This is just his house and I don’t want to be impos--”

 

    They began to laugh at her, interrupting her words. One of them got up in her face and said, “Oh I think I recognize you now. You’re Mint Adenade, the cleric of the group who saved the world. Technically, you didn’t even really fight since all you did was running around healing everyone.”

 

    Then more laughter ensued as Mint frowned, and she said, “Out, please.”

 

    The one in her face asked, putting a hand near where his ear would be, “Huh? What was that? The teensy cleric asked us to leave. What a funny girl!”

 

    Another one said, “I think we’ll stay instead. Thanks for the suggestion, though.”

 

    Then one of them began to move more into the house, only to have the blond-haired woman step in front of him. She said calmly, “If you must, you can wait near the front of the house. I’m... also afraid I’m not going to be able to provide any of you the lodging you desire, so I ask you all to book a room at the local inn for that.”

 

    Then, in the next moment she was seeing stars and she found herself on the floor since one of them had just punched her. In her head it made her, for a moment, flashback to when those other knights had hit her mother for not telling her where a certain item was and even further still, finding out what had happened much, much later...

 

    All those events up until now and yet, people could still act so entitled and ungrateful? The blond-haired woman said nothing as he yelled at her, and rose up to her feet. She stepped closer to him before shoving with all of her strength so he could stumble back and his friends began to pull him away, one of them saying, “You’re going to get us into trouble--”

 

    Then, they left, thankfully enough and she lightly dusted off her outfit. If Cless had been dealing with those kinds of people...

 

    She paused and wished that she didn’t feel so useless. At this moment, where most wounds seemed to be more in the heart, than on the physical form, what good would she be?

 

    She blinked and then heard a loud explosion outside, following that, and opened her door, to see a certain pink-haired half-elf on her broom, sticking her tongue out at the pile of soldiers nearby the home. She sweatdropped a bit and said, “Ah, Arche, you’ve arrived... you didn’t need to do something like that. Now people are going to wonder what happened.”

 

    She floated nearby Mint and said, crossing her arms, “I heard the tail end of what they were saying when I came near the door and heard them hit you, so it’s only natural they get what they deserve in return. I know everyone doesn’t act like that, but sheesh, that’s really not right, you know.”

 

    The blond-haired woman sighed and began to say, “But...”

 

    The pink-haired woman’s magenta-colored eyes looked straight into hers, and then to the ugly bruise Mint had forgotten to heal from that punch that even had a bit of blood due to the fact that it had been metal used. “... And you guys are the only ones remaining that are close to me. Everyone else is dead or somewhere I just can’t reach. If anything happened to either of you because of some jerks and I just did nothing about it, I don’t think it’d sit well with me.”

 

    She then smiled at Mint, reaching over to stroke her cheek while she still could, and the blond-haired woman’s face turned a soft pink as she smiled in returned. “... Thank you, Arche.”

 

    Arche nodded and said, “See you in a bit!”

 

    Then as the pink-haired half-elf flew off, Mint went back inside, to see if Cless was up, and as she closed the door, she healed herself before she forgot. She turned to see Cless standing at the top of the steps, before he descended, looking around a bit. He asked rubbing his eyes, “What happened? I heard a loud explosion so it woke me up.”

 

    Mint smiled sheepishly and said, “Ah, there were some soldiers who became rowdy when they tried to pick you up, so Arche took care of it...but now it’s not really an issue.”

 

    Cless released a sigh, but didn’t seem to say much more on the issue. Then he just looked over Mint to make sure she was okay, and satisfied when she was. He hesitated, however, and he asked, “Are you okay? I mean I don’t think they would’ve tried to hurt you or anything...”

 

    The short haired blond’s words trailed off when she looked down.

 

    An hour or so later, they were in the kitchen, Cless already clad in his armor, and having consumed Mint’s cooking, he smiled a bit over at her and said, “Thanks, Mint. I think helping them out with Valhalla City will be the last thing I do with them for awhile, because I’m going to do something about people’s attitudes.”

 

    The blond-haired woman said, “I could help you with that.”

 

    Cless nodded, as he moved, his hand gently brushing over hers before he left to go upstairs to wash his face so he could wake up some more. “I’ll let you know when you can pitch in.”

 

    Mint noticed he had carelessly left an item on the table and decided to follow him, finding him in the bathroom, and the door was open. She stepped forward, and her eyes also caught the blond-haired swordsman’s reflection in the mirror.

 

    The blond-haired woman wondered a little at something, like she may have seen something besides him in the mirror, and the more she looked, the more she could see the faintness of red ruby eyes there. She dropped the item, and Cless turned to look at her, as if surprised before he smiled at her, asking, “What’s wrong, Mint?”

 

    The cleric said quietly, faking a smile, “....I-- it’s nothing.”

 

    Cless blinked, looking a bit confused before picking up the shards from the broken bottle. “Alright, but take care of yourself. I’m going to go for a little walk, but I should be back soon, okay? I just need to check something out by the mausoleum.”

 

    Mint nodded, and watched as he left when she helped him discard the rest of the mess. Then she quickly headed over to the orphanage.

 

    ...

 

    The blond-haired swordsman felt as if every step he took were done like he were in a daze, and found himself in front of the mausoleum, and everything looked like it hadn’t even so much as collapsed in on itself. The blond went deeper in, despite the feeling he’s starting to get that something is very wrong. Soon enough, however, as he entered into a wide, spacious room that had once been the room that Dhaos had been sealed within.

 

    He saw the man’s back turned to him, but it wasn’t for long, as Dhaos turned to face him, and Cless was convinced that it had to have been him. The smaller blond stepped closer to him, and the taller male smiled malevolently at him, as he said, “How foolish you are... expecting a salvation of some sort, when you have only been lured to your demise. Soon, your body will be forfeit and you will be powerless to watch as you destroy the fragile peace created in this world.”

 

    Cless looked confused, and asked, “W...what do you mean?”

 

    Dhaos stepped closer to him and said, “That dream, was merely a result of your deepest desires and a spell. Kneel before me, human.”

 

    The next moment, the shorter blond found himself doing just that and his eyes widened when he realized he could barely control his body. He asked, “W... what did you do to me?!”

 

    The long-haired blond said simply, “Unluckily for you I was not able to  pass on, knowing I failed in my mission. Everyone from my world is dead, and I’ll make you experience the same despair, Cless Alvein.”

 

    Cless quickly began to say, “Dhaos, wait--”

 

    But his words faded as he felt himself temporarily drift away from consciousness and against his will, Cless was moving on his own, without commands from himself.

 

    ...

 

    Arche flew on in, as Chester and Mint hurried into the forest, and there they found Cless standing right in front of the place that had once collapsed in on itself from a cave in. Chester shouted, “Stop right there! I don’t know who you are, but you should leave him alone, now.”

 

    Cless offered the blue-haired archer a smile, asking, “Or you’ll do what, exactly? Try to stop me?”

 

    The pink-haired mage made a fire ball appear over the palm of her hand, saying, “Yeah, duh! There’s no way we’re allowing a demon in our friend’s body go and do whatever he...”

 

    Her sentence trailed off because she could sense that it wasn’t exactly a demon’s mana signature here and it almost made her heart stop because of the familiarity of it that was mixing with Cless’. Arche heard him even say, “As foolish and quick to judge as always, half-humans and humans are. Even if I informed you all I wasn’t a demon, neither of you would believe me. I even did your human a favor and killed off a few of those pesky, ignorant fellow humans who could not take a hint to leave him be. Now, I shall make you fight your naive and foolish friend to the death or let you all die by his hand.

 

It’s your choice.”

 

    Chester’s eyes narrow as he knocks an arrow at him and says, “You bastard, how about you shut the fuck up and give him BACK?”

 

    Cless spread out his hands and smiled at the bluenette, replying, “Feel free to attack him, it should be amusing to watch him in pain.”

 

    Then he watched in amusement as Chester lowered his bow and arrow with frustration and complete anger. Soon, Arche says, “He’s right... he’s not a demon. He’s Dhaos.”

 

    Chester and Mint looked shocked, with the latter soon holding an upset expression and she asked, “But why? Why are you doing this, Dhaos? We already fought you so many times and we saved your hom--”

 

    The possessed blond replied, cutting in, “You couldn’t possibly understand.. until I make this land your graves as you did with myself.”

 

    When the blond’s feet lifted off of the ground, Chester said, trying not to mentally piss his pants but ultimately was failing, “Translation: I don’t really think he gives a shit, has a really bad beef with us for killing him, lost his marbles, and is doing this for kicks.”

   

    Arche had already made her choice, knowing or thinking that there was only one possible way to knock Dhaos’ spirit out of Cless’ body, and hoping to god it worked... otherwise the alternative was a very grisly outcome. The first thing of course, was the simple fact that Dhaos decided to unleash a spell on them to try to end the battle quickly, ripping the terrain with a terrible swath of cutting wind, falling rocks, burning fire, and rushing water.

 

    The pink-haired witch was able to avoid some of it, but the wind caught on her, making her yelp in pain, and well, there was no way Chester and Mint had the chance to avoid all of that. The blond-haired woman was beginning to cast healing spells and Arche a certain spell. But, of course, Cless... or rather Dhaos did notice her begin to cast, directing his gaze on her for a moment, only for Chester to tackle the blond to the ground.

 

    Chester quickly tried to restrain Dhaos, but was unsuccessful, as he had already somehow whipped out the blade Cless had on him and wildly as well as chaotically swung it at the blue-haired male. This easily caused him to let go, trying to dodge around the blade, shouting, “You’re out of your mind! Why don’t you just give it up already?!”

 

    Dhaos scoffed, as he swung in a horizontal slice that caught the bluenette across the chest, making a brief look of disgust as blood caught on him, “Silence, human. Your people had the chance for talk but now it’s too late.”

 

     He used a quick mini wind spell so he could send a more powerful spell over at Mint, elevating the earth beneath her and sending her flying into a wall of earth... which knocked her clean out since her head hit first.

 

      Realizing he was being distracted, his eyesight shot to the pink-haired half-elf, moving his position away from the blue-haired male but Chester made sure to get in the way... which was also something Dhaos was prepared for. He thrust the sword forward towards the archer’s heart, confident it’ll hit, and then, of course, he heard a voice, shouting, “ _DHAOS NO!_ ”

 

    Not that it deterred him in the slightest.

 

    The blade pierced right through Chester’s left shoulder, and he heard the blue-haired male’s pained gasp. Perhaps he was wrong about the initial statement of not being deterred and he frowned as Chester stumbled back once the sword had been removed. Dhaos then thought it was a good time to cast Tetra Spell to knock out the blue-haired male as well.

 

    “... come forth, divine lightning!”

 

     Dhaos cursed under his breath before he was hit with the spell, and indeed the nature of it was powerful enough to force the blond-haired would-be ghost from the smaller blond’s body. Cless forced himself to his feet despite his body feeling like it went through an electrical storm, feeling barely conscious. It was amazing he was even awake at that moment, but he turned to see that the taller blond slowly getting up, fading in between being transparent, and not so much.

   

    Cless began to come over to him, and Dhaos had risen to his feet. “You need to stop this and listen! I--”

 

    The blond-haired angel interrupted, energy beginning to form in his hands as he said, “As if I need to listen to a human--”

 

    A blade cut through the air, almost hitting Dhaos, who dodged around it, only to realize it was a feint for a punch in the face, making him get off balance, falling to the grass beneath him. Then, Cless stabbed the blade in the ground nearby the taller blond, standing over him and he yelled, “THIS IS STUPID! WHY IS THIS NECESSARY?!”

 

    Arche flew in and said, “He’s got a point and luckily I brought some stuff so the others aren’t unconscious for hours, but--”

 

    In a split second, Dhaos grabbed Cless’ leg and both of them had dissipated into thin air, leaving just Arche, and the other two who were just getting up. She blinked and then she clenched her hands into fists, shouting, “Ohhhh COME ON ALREADY!!!”

 

    ...

 

    The castle had been empty for a long time now, and there were no longer any demons within... but it’s location also made it extremely cold. Cless found that he was soon picking himself off of the floor after they had appeared due to the taller man giving him a punch in return, but not in the face, but rather his stomach. He wondered distantly how a ghost, if that was what he could still be classified as, could still physically touch people, but maybe he was more like a spirit now.

 

    ... He probably should be paying attention, although admittedly that was hard to do when his body was screaming in pain and he quickly attempted to rummage for an item so that wouldn’t be along with the bit of blood trickling down his lips. Interrupted, of course, by the long haired blond grabbing him by the neck, he quickly gasps out, “S-stop, y-you don’t understand--”

 

    Dhaos interrupted, leering at him, “--as if I do not. If you had given in, this would have bee--”

 

    “--D-Derris Kharlan was saved. W-we...saved it, when we went into the future, s-so everything’s going to be okay.”

 

    Not only was the taller male shocked the other knew about his world, but the fact that there was the other part done made him put down Cless, quickly letting go soon after, and stepping back. Looking at the smaller blond, who was sitting with his head looking slightly down, and the way his mana signature appeared, Dhaos could easily conclude that the human seemed close to being dead.

 

   The thought, _What have I done?_ , appeared in the once-king’s head.

 

    Cless said, “It’s... fine. I’m glad in a way it happened like this anyway. I mean, the fact that it took hearing words on your death bed the third time we fought to learn the truth was bad enough, so maybe this evens it out a little bit.”

 

     Dhaos found this unacceptable, even if it wasn’t exactly the worst case scenario, and felt himself become overwhelmed with too many emotions, most of which were not even anger this time around. “...Even if it did take so long for you to see the truth, it does not make this any less problematic. However, at the same time, you and your friends are in the select few who tried to do something about it.”

 

      A bit of tears began to roll down his cheeks. The sacrifices were not for nothing after all. He could pass.. and Dhaos watched Cless rise to his feet when he noticed the tears, which made the taller blond come closer to catch the other when he stumbled.

 

       Another thought came as well, and Dhaos quickly made it aloud, asking, “... human, why are you not using those items of yours?”

 

       Cless blinked slowly, then he smiled sheepishly, replying, “Well... about those... I think I forgot them, since I couldn’t find them where I usually put them. Chester probably put them on my drawer and I was in such a hurry to meet you that it slipped my mind?”

 

       When the smaller blond noticed Dhaos looked mortified, he supposed it was for a good reason. For some reason he did find it funny, and he began to laugh -- the irony was probably a bit much in the fact that miscommunication fueled an unnecessary fight.

 

        “.....”

 

         Cless felt the other blond pick him up into his arms, and grasped the front of his cloak before slipping unconscious.

 

          ...

 

          A small pink-haired woman was sitting at a table, across from a certain blue-haired man as well as one blond-haired woman. ”I had no other choice, but, even so... I felt really bad when I saw the way he turned out from that spell. Even worse when I thought that after I got you guys awake that he was probably dead since Dhaos had taken him away. But, now...well, he was brought back by him. I’m convinced of that even though we didn’t see him when Cless appeared in Chester’s room. I’m just happy Mint got to him in time.

 

         The only thing is, there are still some issues going on here. We’ve got some idiots here and there sometimes, but ... it’s taking its toll on us.”

 

          Chester sighed and shrugged, replying, “Well, I guess we can’t really help it if people are becoming too comfortable to not restrain themselves in order to have decent courtesy around us, or you know, jealous for some reason.

 

          That aside, Cless seems to be doing better now, and hopefully when he gets back from that meeting, we can all do something together to get our minds off of this huge mess.”

 

          Mint nodded, saying, “Yes, that would be a good idea. Ah, it’s been such a long while since we’ve travelled together, right? So maybe a little bit of that--”

 

           Arche interrupted, popping up with a grin, “A trip to the beach sounds great!”

 

          ...

 

          Cless was practically falling asleep during the meeting, and was pretty sure other than the concerns he addressed about the conditions of the workers as well as the topics related to them, he wasn’t paying very close attention. When it was over, however, one of the remaining individuals called him for a more private meeting. He scrutinized the noble who had, remembering that he looked particularly familiar... but couldn’t be too bothered to remember who it was.

 

          He blinked as the man sat down and apparently had prepared tea for them. Cless blinked and said, “You know, I’m not really a tea kind of person...”

 

          The man then offered coffee and the blond shrugged, saying, “I don’t really like coffee all that much either.”

 

          “... There has to be something you’d drink.”

 

          Cless then grinned and said, “Maybe something like a fruit punch that has a great kick in it!”

 

          “That’s too much.”

 

          The blond swordsman sighed and sat down. “Fine, I’ll drink this tea, you went through the trouble to make it anyway...”

 

          Said blond was heedless of the way the noble stared when he reached for the tea, the latter man beginning with, “I wanted to talk to you about the concerns you brought up with some of the knight’s behavior and raising the costs we’d have to pay for all of those involved in this...project. I was hoping you could just forget about all of that.”

 

          Cless blinked, and frowned, saying, “I don’t think so. As the captain of the knights, I need to make sure things are being handled properly, as well as a certain few members being disciplined. I could easily do the latter myself, but it’s better if it’s not just me handing down the punishment.”

 

          The blond heard, “Well then, that’s just unfortunate,” as his hand nearly grasped the tea cup.

 

          The cup seemed to just suddenly fly off of the table and into the wall, shattering into a myriad of broken pieces. The noble grumbled and said, “I’ll get you another one. We’re not done yet.”

 

          Cless raised his hands, smiling sheepishly as he said, “Ah, no, no, that’s fine, I...”

 

          Before he realized it, another cup of tea had been placed across from him. Said cup of tea suddenly flipped over on itself, spilling all over the table and making the noble angry. “What is this nonsense?!”

 

          The blond-haired swordsman shrugged, saying, “I guess it wasn’t meant to be.”

 

          As if to illustrate the point, the tea pot suddenly flew out the open window. Cless rubbed at his eyes and the mess was still on table, signifying it really did happen. He decided to stand up to leave, and made his way to leave the room, saying, “Look, I don’t have forever. My friends are waiting, maybe we can talk about this some other time?”

 

          The noble, furious that his earlier attempts had been quashed by whatever happened, withdrew a knife from his robes, and came at the swordsman from behind. He only found that he was stopped a hair’s breath from striking where he wanted to, and the blond safely left the room, much to the other man’s disappointment.

 

          However, as soon as the door closed, a voice came on in, “There are some humans who never seem to consider that their actions would quantify as an exceeding amount of ungratefulness. As well as being unable to take a hint.”

 

          The noble found himself unable to speak as he was being carried towards the window. “I am doing everyone a favor and ridding them of a nuisance. I’m sure you’ll be hardly missed.”

 

          ...

 

          Cless didn’t even finish getting himself down the hallway when he heard a commotion from the guards and then soon found that he was being briefed about how the noble jumped was defenestrated from the own window. Although the door was locked, the room seemed to look like it was hit by an earthquake. His eyes narrowed and he began to look around the castle, until he saw no signs of who he thought had a hand in this, decided he’d take care of this later. As he was heading towards the inn, he saw a certain ghostly figure standing nearby the entrance. He glared, shouting, “WHAT THE HELL’S YOUR PROBLEM?!”

 

          A silence came over the area as Cless began to realize that there had been some people walking by, and can’t see the ghost. As a result, he tried to ignore a certain someone’s amused expression, and his face turned red when he scrambled into the inn. He saw his friends who were waiting also staring at him, and he cleared his throat, saying, “I was... yelling at myself for falling asleep during the meeting. SO, the bright side is looks like I’ll have some free time for a bit...”

 

          ...

 

          Cless splashed some water over his face, and sighed, before he heard a voice speaking from behind him. “That tea was poisoned, for one thing, and another, if you had happened to turn around you would have noticed he’d have drawn a weapon on you in hopes of stabbing you in the back. I was simply doing you a favor to prevent any further... complications.”

 

          Dhaos watched the human in front of him, who was currently staring at himself in the mirror. Said smaller blond gripped the sink tightly and spoke,“I’m starting to think maybe I’m not doing enough. So, maybe, I need to change things up a bit...maybe find a way to make an example out of anyone who wants to hurt others.”

 

          A dark look comes into those brown eyes, and as much as Dhaos would have loved to see the blond push around some ignorant humans, he knows from experience it could get out of hand rather quickly. With a slight movement of his hand, a trickle of water dropped on Cless’ head, making him turn around, and yell, “HEY! Come on, can’t you see I’m trying to think here?!”

 

          Dhaos simply said, “That’s a bit laughable, considering.”

 

          Cless’ face turned red with angry as he was about to say something, but it seemed that Dhaos had made a quick exit... which honestly just made the smaller blond huff. “... What the hell, he can be such a jerk...”

 

          Before he could begin to return to sinking into those ‘thoughts’ from not too long ago, however, he hears a knock at the door and a blond woman’s voice comes through, asking, “Cless, are you alright? I heard yelling, and... we’re all waiting in the room. It’s been a few hours, so we became concerned.”

 

          The blond-haired male thought of a quick lie but could only say, “... I... I’m fine.”

 

          “...”

 

          Cless sighed and then heard, “Okay, then we’re coming in!”

 

          The blond swordsman began to sputter and ran towards the door, but it was too late, since Arche opened the door wide. She snickered as she saw the blond trying to wrestle on his pj top because he had his bottoms on but hadn’t exactly gotten the other half on in time. She then ran on in along with the others, and before Cless realized it, they had enveloped him in a massive hug. He laughed, “Guys, come on, really? You couldn’t wait until I was out?”

 

          Arche pinched his right side. “Nope!”

 

          Cless yelped and tried to frown at her, but seeing his comrades up close with smiles on their faces made him just smile instead. Chester grinned and said, leaning in to kiss his cheek, “There it is, the moment we’ve been waiting for.”

 

          Mint asked, closing her eyes, as she gripped a bit tighter on her compatriots, “Ah, do you mean where we all come together to support each other?”

 

          The blond-haired male blushed and said, “Aw, you guys, you’re too sweet. Seriously.”

 

          Then, in that moment, Cless thought that maybe it’d be best to discuss the incident with his friends... even if he had been afraid to trouble them, it couldn’t hurt to get the support he needed.

 

          ...

 

          Cless moved to sit down outside for a bit, way long after his friends had fallen asleep, and it was a little ways from the inn. At this time of night, hardly anyone was outside, and that was one of the reasons he had gone ahead with it. He asked, to the other standing by his right side,“Why did you stay?”

 

          The figure, who shimmered brightly, but only visible to a few, looked down at the smaller blond, and said, “It was the least I could do, after that unfortunate incident, it seemed simply... unkind to leave our last meeting at that. Especially when I had discovered what you had done, even if things haven’t exactly gone perfectly, it was enough. A part of me also recognized you could head down towards a similar path I had gone, from what I saw of people’s experiences.”

 

          Cless blinked and looked up, saying quietly, “... Thanks.”

 

          Then, he considers something else, and asks, “Dhaos? Could you stay here a bit?”

 

          The taller blond decides to sit down next to Cless, and the latter places his hand over his, causing Dhaos to look at Cless, then over at the sky above.

 

          “I shall, and perhaps even a little longer than that.”

**Author's Note:**

> Hope it was okay. And now onto other Tales of Phantasia projects...


End file.
